Welcome to the Friday Feedback, which wants to commit some time to basketball today, what with the regular season starting tonight and the future assembling this week with the whirring of fax machines and the sightings of the FedEx delivery truck.

West Virginia will end up with four players this week: Thoroughbred Sagba Konate (I’ll call him that because he’s massive and because three older brothers played college basketball) intends to signs today, while South Charleston’s Brandon Knapper, noted goon Chase Harler and mystery man Maciej Bender signed and sent their letters mid-week.

Let’s do some addition here: WVU has the maximum 13 players on scholarship and but two are seniors. The Mountaineers just signed four to join the team next fall. Well, Knapper is going to play next season at Hargrave Military Academy, and the cruel reality is one of the remaining 11 at the end of the season is going to be somewhere else for the 2016-17 season. (Unless Devin Williams explodes this season and goes pro, which he’s discussed as a possible outcome.)

Huggins, as you’d expect, likes this group of signees because it’ll address the departures of Jon Holton and Jaysean Paige after this season and it might also protect the Mountaineers if Williams does what he wants to do. Huggins also wants to play 10-12 players regularly because that keeps players invested in practice and invested in the season, a flaw he endured with the 2012-13 roster.

It’s a quirky collection of players, too. Huggins got two players from the state, not because they’re from the state, but because he believes they can play. Konate and Bender are … man, I hate the word projects because projects aren’t courted like these two were … but let’s say projects and describe why.

WVU looked at both and saw something immediately and then off in the future, and it took time and work to recruit and land both because eventually other schools saw good players and tried to make both players theirs.

Konate is playing for a Catholic school in Hermitage, Pa., in the northwestern corner of the state, and it was basically the Mountaineers and Pitt in the formative stages, but people could find and watch him.

It was a little more difficult with Bender.

“I think Maciej is very good,” Huggins said. “Nobody’s seen him play is the deal. Once he gets exposure and the national limelight, people are going to see how good he really is.”

He’s playing at Mountain Mission, a school in Grundy, Va., that is, in its words, “a refuge, resource and relief for the child in need.” Bender’s need, if you will, is that he left his home in Poland in 2013 for the United States so he could create and maximize his dreams. WVU assistant Ron Everhart locked in early and forged, developed and sustained a relationship with Bender, his family and the people at Mountain Mission. He even went to Poland over the summer.

And that’s where this story turns. Bender was in Poland. He wasn’t in Atlanta or Las Vegas or some other AAU hotbed. He’s a four-star prospect without the benefits or trappings or both that come with the sneaker circuit. The Mountaineers, it would seem, are the ones reaping the rewards.

“What happens, and it’s unfortunate, is coaches don’t see guys on their high school teams very often,” Huggins said. “Maciej’s situation with the Polish national team, he played in April and played in Myrtle Beach, and it’s a really good tournament. … But it’s more like mid-major kind of people. The other guys are doing EYBL stuff, so he just wasn’t seen. People didn’t know about him. But it was good for us.”

Onto the Feedback. As always, comments appear as posted. In other words, don’t confuse the message.

Foul Shot said:

Just read the basketball preview from Mike in the Daily Mail.
Liking the fact that Adrian made his shots last week.
Hoping this translates into success throughout the year.
Looking forward to the improved offense, or to the projection, this season.
It got a bit better last year, but as was discussed in the article, this had a lot to do with the pressure D.
Now that we supposedly have the mix of the offense with the pressure, maybe we can get past Kansas and get the Big 12 Title.
But, Sweet 16 or better would be awesome too!

You and I both forgot one huge caveat: Jump shots. They have to go down this season if the offense really is going to get better. I have to believe layups actually fall, or WVU at least shoots better than, like, 50 percent on them. But jumpers are something that get better with improvement, not luck, and we need to see that to believe that, right?

BobbyHeenan said:

I read the article as well (basketball). As always, it was good piece.

The new foul rules scare me on the press. We’ll see how that plays out. As good as our press was our half court defense was below average. We don’t have a rim protector but I think if Ahmad can guard well his athleticism and frame/wingspan will be an asset on D and we can go back to switching a bunch of screens without consequent mismatches because of the defensive versatility he and Holton provide.

I may be way off here, but I like Phillip more on offense than Carter. I think he is more apt to get it to the rim late in the shot clock when we need to get a shot up. That PG spot will be fun to watch to see if anyone steps up to take it.

As always, good points. I’m excited for you all to see Ahmad and deliver your thoughts. There’s a lot to like and a few things to circle, and those are all important because he’ll be getting a lot of minutes.

Down South said:

Durante is going to be fine. 9 months with the strength staff and he will be a different guy.

If I were Dana (and you should all be thankful that I’m not), I would go hire someone like Spavital to be my OC. Turn over play calling duties. I get that is contrary to everything he has been about, but the intense focus on getting the next play called causes him to lose focus on managing the game. He needs to be the voice on the headset saying “Guys, they can’t stop our runs. Do not put this ball in the air.” Or “Let’s start with a run here since we are backed up deep. If we hit something big on first down to get us out of the shadow of our own end zone, then we can worry about trying to score.” And his coordination of the offense suffers because he is devoting so much time to a head coach’s duties. I know this has been tossed around here, but the utility of it really hit me listening to Al Michaels talk about Jason Garrett giving up play calling for the Cowboys. I’m sure it was really hard for Garrett. That’s how he made his bones. Dana knows good offense. I’m sure he could hire an excellent guy to run his offense if he gave them that kind of authority.

Hope someone has that discussion with him after the season. You can be a great play caller or you can be a great head coach. You probably can’t be both at the same time.

If he continually evolves his offense, might he evolve the way it’s managed? I feel like we’re going to have a spot on the staff in the offseason, if for no other reason than that’s what happens every year, so it should be interesting to see where he goes as he fills it. That said, we’ve discussed a bunch of “management” issues this season, but, to me, the only really egregious one was the end of the first half against TCU, a game he lost by 30 points. The checks against Texas Tech could have been explicitly banned on the sideline, sure, but that’s not the norm, and the throw to Shorts damn near worked. I guess what I’m asking is, “Are we sure it’s broken?”

Rugger said:

I’m not clear on the college replay rule. Could Dana have requested a review of the Mahome fumble or is that left to the ref’s discretion??

Yes.

pknocker40 said:

Remember when Dana refused to pass the ball late in the fourth quarter against TCU last year and the whole stadium booed? Is there any perspective to be gained from that experience?

I guess you could say TTech is awful and can’t stop the run so you should run it every time no matter what. But it’s not like Howard threw more than a handful of times in the second half. Overall, WVU ran the ball 57 times and threw the ball 24 times.

I thought the two passes were crazy just like everyone else. If I’m going to rationalize I’d say that if you even consider passing in that situation you do it on second down. The defense isn’t expecting it and you can still run it on third down when the defense has to at least be prepared for a pass. Odds were still pretty good that Smallwood would pick up those first downs, which is what happened.

I hadn’t considered this, but what if WVU saw the wet tissue wearing Texas Tech helmets and felt like it could get yards whenever it wanted at the end of a game? That’s then a confident offense that hasn’t been confident, which is then progress. And suddenly you’ve got a team running the ball, relying on defense and using strengths to cover weaknesses, which, I’ve been told, are the tenants of WVU football. I suppose that doesn’t dismiss the argument that there was no need to gamble on confidence that hadn’t been present and to work against the clock, but there are myriad ways to dissect this situation.

Sid Brockman said:

I’ve gotta say, I usually like this blog for its fair analysis. But not at all after this WIN. You’d think WVU lost by 4 tds. Yes, the QB play isn’t great, but the hatred of him is unreal. I actually thought he played pretty well, considering his limitations.

And quit acting like WVU was lucky to win. They never trailed, and being there in person, I never felt like TTU was any threat to win the game.

That bar is really low now, isn’t it?

Karl said:

This is a big game for us — maybe the last one of the season. Even on a down year, beating Texas in front of a packed home crowd is something you can recruit on. I hope we have some quality visitors in the seats (and win).

Agreed. And speaking of visitors, here’s the piece I referenced in the chat.

Joe Dryler said:

HCDH absolutely deserves credit for rebounding after the brutal 4 games and having his team ready to play. They seemed well motivated and energetic. That was not necessarily a given. All that being said, the team played just well enough to beat a very mediocre team at home that was determined to give it to us at the end. They get another chance to do the same again next week and then get one poor and one very poor team. And then finally to finish up against a best-case 6-5 team. I’m guessing we will win 3 of those games and go to a decent bowl. HCDH will stay right where he is (deservedly so, probably, all things considered). But, and I hate to say it, color me “meh.” This is probably our foreseeable future in the Big 12 (fighting for 4-7 place), and that just seems a little tedious. I’ll still be rooting hard and cursing officials but I feel like we had four games to make a statement, gain some relevance, and now that is over.

This is absolutely not making it into the media guide, but I can’t say it’s inaccurate.

Clarence Oveur said:

I’d like to think that Dana came out of the presser and said to Skyler, “that’s the last time I vouch for you making a dumb [flummoxing] check to a pass play.”

I’d like to think that…

I’m not clear on this: Would you like to think that?

BobbyHeenan said:

You think Mahomes dropped a: “Game….Blouses” after that scramble TD pass?

Ideally.

Mack said:

Off topic but sort of on topic, I don’t see how they didn’t rule Skyler’s quarterback sneak a touchdown given that his helmet was about a yard-and-a-half into the end zone when the Tech player pulled it off.

If the Tech player doesn’t get that penalty for pulling off Skyler’s helmet, then it’s 4th and goal from an inch away with roughly 90 seconds left, right? So, in that instance, I think WVU has to kick the field goal to go up 8 . . . meaning Tech gets the ball with a chance to tie. I dunno. . . wouldn’t have been very fun.

I was going through this in my head as it happened, and I think he would have gone for it just because of the prospect of taking the three points meant kicking to Grant and tasking the coverage team with not blowing the game. At worst, Texas Tech has to go 99 yards to get a touchdown. Imagine the debate we’d be having if he went for it and didn’t get it and WVU still won but still made it way, way, way too hard. 

BobbyHeenan said:

I was livid about calling the sneak there. Did we call that or did Howard check to it?

Smallwood and Shell were running well, why not put it in their hands rather than the QB?

But WVU’s guards were dominating the defensive line and the center is as good as it gets for WVU. I don’t mind the call. I mind the fact WVU showed it forever and then ran it. Easy to stop it when you see it coming.

Dann White said:

In Charlotte this weekend past; looking for a home. We got slammed at an intersection by the car behind us, it literally lifted the ass-end of our car into the air.
At any rate, it sort of knocked any sort of celebration out of me, but I was still happy for the win. Now itson to Texas and a chance to climb over .500 again. Would anyone else feel kind of sheepish if we wound up 8-4 this season?
Mind you, that is no prediction, but I feel like it is doable if we get the bounces.
I thought Skyler Howard redeemed himself, I credit lapses in the receiving game with the lowered completion rate, and if you look you will see that when he is getting protection he doesn’t cough up the cabbage. He is without a doubt one tough little nut who gives about as good as he gets when tackled. He ain’t Major or Pat White, but he is OUR quarterback and he has earned my respect.
‘Nuff said…..

Dann

Dann! A lot going on there. Are you OK and was Mack injured?

tom sirk said:

OMG – Dann will be in my backyard — maybe get a chance to hear his philosophy first hand at alumni gatherings – hide the Rich rod supporters!

Legend.

Daniel said:

I get that Dana’s managing the “situation” of the position well, but I do not think that he’s done the greatest job of managing Skyler. The checks into passes that last drive are infathomable to me. So are the long bombs on makable 3rd downs. And I ablosutely abhor that open set QB run.

He’s said many times that, “if it’s working we’re going to keep doing it. If it’s not working, you probably won’t see it again.” But that does NOT seem to be the case.

Fair.

avb31 said:

If this is the direction that the offense is going – a Rich Rod-esque power run game – then it makes even less sense to continue with Howard. If we are going to run it 70% of the time, wouldn’t it make sense to have one of your best athletes at QB?
Or, is Crest such a bad thrower of the football that he isn’t able to chuck it 15-18 times a game and complete half of them?

If the team truly onky goes into a game with 10-12 plays, would it be impossible to make the checks at the line easier?

A run based team that will ask the QB to run 12-15 times a game is built for William Crest.

I have to believe this: Howard would be out if there were a better option in reserve. (Did you see Crest’s throw Saturday?)

Down South said:

The problem with the premise of the Taboo is that there is no way to prove or disprove it. It’s like saying “no one could have done a better job as president the last six years than Obama.” We can’t prove or disprove the statement because only Obama was President during that time. RichRod was absolutely committed to Adam Bednarik until a Louisville defender fell on him. He has his reasons for sticking with Skyler, but we can’t evaluate the wisdom of the decision without seeing another QB get snaps. Skyler has been largely ineffective as a QB. I can’t buy the idea that he is staying in because he is good at getting us in the right run play when he has gotten us into the wrong pass play on so many downs when a run was the right call. None of the other position coach would have not subbed for one of their players at some point if the player had been as ineffective at Skyler. I get that QB is different. I just don’t think it is that different.

I think that’s the beauty of the Taboo.

PeterB said:

Gotta disagree with the idea that spiking the ball on that drive to end the first half was a mistake. You can’t run another play with the time on the clock and be sure you’re going to get to use your time out to get the field goal unit on. All you need to do is stop the clock, and the spike accomplishes that.

So you spike the ball, saving your time out in case there’s a botched snap or other snafu on the FGA. You’re close enough that losing 6-7 yards on the FGA doesn’t put you out of range.

Well, before that drive started, the field goal team lined up on the edge of the field and the sideline and then followed the drive as it went down the field, so there’s no way it doesn’t get on the field on time. They practice that regularly. The spike invites danger, too. What if Sills lined up wrong again? What if there was a false start or an illegal snap? Timeouts are there to take those variables out of play. If there was a botched snap, that fiasco almost certainly takes up the rest of the half. The bigger issue is when you spike the ball you have to snap the ball with three seconds left. That’s a rule. WVU snapped it with, I believe, four seconds left. That’s cutting it really close. It didn’t matter, but I’m the guy who thinks everything matters.

Loopy Hoopy said:

Great Job Mike, I enjoy this every week. Even if Cajuste is healthy enough to play, I like what I saw from the OL last week and prefer not to mix it up unless you are forced to by injury.

I’d be very surprised if it changed. Also, you found your right tackle for next fall. That’s one item off the list (though I hear Colton McKivitz might have something to say about that).

Shoot4Show siad:

After reading the prologue to the actual G&B, I now understand why being a fan of this team is exhausting. I had to take a break from the blog before working through the film… and the prologue was about one drive, o-n-e d-r-i-v-e.

A game is draining. A season is debilitating.

If attendance falls, it isn’t because of too few wins and mounting losses. It’s how we arrive at the result, win or lose, that sucks the life out my very being.

I like words. My bad. This is also why I’m worried about the 13th edition — not only doing it, but getting there and everything it involves — and what shape I’ll be in afterward.

Down South said:

In the Big XII, there are 30% more plays to lose your mind over. It takes a toll.

Enjoy the weekend!